Here is Gone
by Reiya Inc
Summary: The most fatal scars are those we carry in our mind.


[re-uploaded]

Disclaimer: All characters mentioned are property of Sega and I will, without a doubt, never own any of them. And the wonderful song, "Here is Gone" belongs to the Goo Goo Dolls.

Words in italics represent thoughts. Words in slashes are flashbacks. This fic's a little long, but I hope you enjoy!

Here is Gone

Reiya

x.x.x.x.x.x.

"And I want to get free  
Talk to me  
I can feel you falling  
And I wanted to be  
All you need  
Somehow here is gone."

A small click sounded as a key turned in the door. Amy Rose twisted the knob in her hand and stepped inside the small, but cozy house.

Tails' house.

Or, more accurately, his workshop. Amy set the heavy load of groceries down on a nearby table and closed the door with and outstretched foot.

"Tails! You won't believe it; they had the greatest deals! I saved at least five dollars." Amy's voice called out. When no response returned she frowned and quickly unloaded the groceries into the cabinets and refrigerator.

"Tails?" Uncertainty sounded in her voice as she warily walked down the hall.

"Tails?" She called again; the tapping of her heels against the floor became louder as her desperation for a response grew. Amy rounded the corner that led to the bedrooms.

"Tails are he-" She stopped short as her emerald eyes spied the fox watching TV from his bedroom. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Hello, Amy, the Blues are leading by two against N.J. Devils." Tails informed as he resumed watching the hockey game. Amy stepped inside his room and folded her hands across her chest. She opened her mouth to express her irritation with him for worrying her when her face twisted into shock.

"My god, Tails! You're bleeding!"

"Huh? Oh…it stopped bleeding a while ago"

"Why didn't you wrap it up?"

"I couldn't find the band-aids."

"Come on, I'll take care of it." Amy extended her gloved hand towards Tails. He took it with right hand and followed Amy into the bathroom. Momentarily forgetting her annoyance with the fox, she carefully bandaged the wound on his palm. Her face frowned at the cut on his hand; it looked like he did it with a knife.

"What happened?"

"What?"

"To your hand, Tails."

"Oh, I was making a sandwich."

Amy sighed at his response, she had told him she would bring lunch a little later, the traffic was awful. Tails followed her out to the kitchen; head held a little lower than usual. Amy turned toward him and smiled.

"It's alright, are you still hungry?" She asked removing some chicken and rice from the refrigerator. Tails nodded and quietly went about eating his meal. Amy ate in silence too, watching the young fox with saddened eyes. He wasn't that young, but she always counted him as so, since she was older, even if it was only by a few years. She looked guiltily at his dull and thinning fur, proof that the past still influences the future.

Amy looked back at her meal; he was only thirty years old, four years younger than her. He should be working on his projects and have a family of his own. He should be. But even the best-laid plans can turn against you. Amy looked back up at Tails to see him finishing the end of his meal, _that was quick_, she thought.

"Tails, did you take your pills?" She asked, when he refused to answer, she tilted her head.

"You didn't, did you? You know you have to take them, the doctors said th-"

"I don't care what the doctors said, I don't want to take them."

"But why, they're helping you."

"For how long? How long will they help me, Amy? For a month, two months?"

Amy swallowed and took her plate to the sink. She returned for Tails' and started to wash them off.

"Dr. Sills thinks that, within the next year, they should be able to-"

"No, Amy, No. Dr. Sills doesn't know what he's talking about, if they were this close to finding a cure they would have found it by now. I'm tired of taking those pills, I'm not myself when I take them, I'd… I'd rather be myself."

Amy stopped washing the dishes, and walked over to the small wooden table, her emerald eyes locked on his sapphire. She took his hand in hers.

"Tails, please, just for me, please, will you take them, just for a little bit longer." Her eyes pleaded, terrified by the turn of the conversation. Tails turned his gaze to the window and seemed to be watching the sea gulls for a moment before he replied.

"Amy how long have you been coming here? To make sure I'm alright?"

"I-I don't know. It's not to make sure your alright, I come here to see you."

Tails ignored her last statement and continued to follow the birds with his eyes.

"I think it's been five years. Yes, four times a week for five years." He turned back to her and studied her face.

"Don't you ever get tired? Of coming to see me? I know I'm not that great of company."

"No, I don't get tired of coming to see you." Amy smoothed out some wrinkles on her tan skirt. _He must have taken some of the pills_, she concluded, _he's very distant when he takes them._

"BRING!" The phone startled Amy, but not enough to make her jump. She hurriedly picked it up on the second ring, relieved from the distraction.

"Yes?"

"…Amy? Is that you?"

Amy paused, that voice sounded so familiar, who was it? Then it clicked.

"Rouge! I can't believe it! I'm sorry, for a second I didn't recognize you!"

Laughter sounded at the other end of the phone and Amy heard another voice she knew.

"Is that Knuckles?!" Amy asked, smiling into the phone, Tails listened from the table at the one-sided conversation from Amy.

Rouge smiled and waved at Knuckles to come closer and say something.

"Yes, we're here in Station Square, we just got in on the one o'clock train."

"You are? That's wonderful! We'll come pick you up!'

"No, no, it's fine we're taking the next one to the Mystic Ruins, we'll be there in about… half an hour."

"Oh, that's great!"

"Are you sure it's alright? Just showing up like this?"

"Yes, of course! Are you staying for Christmas?"

"Uh-huh, unless that hotel down there's booked, Knux here forgot to make reservations." Rouge playing hit his arm.

"I didn't forget, Rouge was supposed to make the reservations." Knuckles defended. Amy smiled; it was so good to hear from them again.

"It's fine, there's plenty of room here at Tails, why don't you stay with us?" Amy asked, looking over at Tails to see if it was okay, he nodded.

"Really? Thank you so much, I can't wait to see you two!" Rouge put her hand over the phone and told Knuckles the arrangements.

"Well, it's about time to leave, see ya soon!"

"Alright, good bye." Amy sat the phone down and turned back to Tails.

"They'll be here in a bit."

The guest rooms were clean, as always. Amy had made a weekly habit of cleaning them, ever since Tails had remodeled his old workshop into a quaint home. _I should be cleaning rooms at a hotel,_ Amy grinned, taking a look at the immaculate house she looked after. Housekeeping was her favorite hobby, if it counted as one. The scent of fresh, clean laundry was enough to erase her mind of all worries. _Maybe one day I will._

"Why don't you go meet them at the train stop?" Tails' suddenly question pulled Amy from her reverie.

"…Yes, I will go greet them, don't you want to come?"

"I'll stay here."

"Alright then, I'll be back soon." Amy hefted her rather cumbersome purse into her shoulder and waved to Tails as she left. Tails waved back and withdrew a prescription bottle from his pocket. _Fine, I'll do it Amy, just for you._ The fox removed the cap and swallowed two of the pills inside. _For a little bit longer._

x.x.x.x.x.x.

Amy frowned at the long stairway ahead of her. _Why'd I wear these shoes? They're so painful._ Walk to and fro the train depot was murder in her heels. _I'll get a new pair soon._ Finally, crossing the last step, Amy took a short breather. _Soon everyone will be here. Soon. Just like before…_

Christmas was never her favorite holiday. When she was young, yes, it had been. But now, it was a reminder. A reminder of her mistakes. Rouge and Knuckles didn't know too much about Tails' condition, the walk back to his place would provide her with enough time to explain to them.

"Welcome to the Mystic Ruins. Next stop, Station Square!" a young man bellowed at the people leaving and joining the train. Amy increased her pace. _That was fast. _She quickly spotted Knuckles hauling the luggage. Rouge followed behind, leading Elli along.

"Hello!" Rouge shouted over the bustling crowd of people. The Mystic Ruins had grown a lot; restaurants and hotels had sprung up, and there was an ancient temple that did wonders for the tourist attraction. She silently waved at them as they walked towards her.

"It's been awhile." Knuckles' smirked and set the suitcases down to give Amy a hug.

"Yeah, it has." She wiped at her eyes, which threatened to spill as she turned and hugged Rouge.

"I'd like you to meet someone." Rouge turned around and guided a tiny child in front of her. Amy bent down to eye level with her and smiled. She had white fur with long hair like her father, but large ears like her mother.

"You must be Elli, your parents have told me wonderful things about you. How old are you?" Amy patiently waited as the child counted out four on her fingers and then quickly changed it to three.

"Three." Elli said, holding her hand up proudly.

"How old are you?" Elli asked politely.

"A little older than that." Amy laughed and stood up.

"She's an angel, Rouge."

"Thank you."

The hazel-eyed child entertained herself by watching a bird sing in a close by palm tree.

"So, how have you been?"

"We're great, how about you? Are you still working at the bank?" Rouge questioned.

"Yes, going on eight years."

Knuckles stepped forward a bit, "How's Tails?" His eye reflected his suspicion about the fox's current state. Amy sighed and tugged on a strand of her long pink hair. _How do I say this?_

"Tails, isn't… well, he's different then from what you remember, he's…" Amy searched for the appropriate word to use. Then Tails' words from this morning came to her.

"He's not himself. The… accident… it, it changed him." Amy swallowed hard, forcing the shakiness of her voice back down. Rouge placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The accident changed everyone, but everyone concealed their wounds as best they could. Physical wounds, like the ones Knuckles' carried, those would heal in time. She glanced at the numerous scars that lined his arms and his blinded left eye. Now, his long red dreads covered the scarred eye, making it barely visible. _Such a price…such a price to pay for such a simple mistake…_ _What price will I pay for mine?_ The internal wounds, those were the ones that never healed.

Elli tugged at her mom's hand. "I'm hungry." She announced.

"Okay, then, lets get something to eat." Amy disbanded her frame of mind for a more pleasant one, finding something to eat. Rouge followed Amy's lead with Elli bobbing along side her. Knuckles carried the suitcases as he fell in line behind Rouge.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

"Wow. It's exactly how I remember it." Knuckles put the suitcases down by the door and admired the house.

Tails stood up from his chair and welcomed them all. They exchanged the usual hugs and chatter before putting the luggage into the guest rooms and giving Elli a sandwich.

"Do you remember when we all rebuilt this place?" Tails asked, sipping on a glass of iced tea. Knuckle leaned back, with his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, I sure do, took us a whole week. I got a lotta splinters from here."

"They were tiny!" Rouge snickered at him, "About the size of a-"

"A house!" Knuckles interrupted, he bent forward and stretched his thumb and index finger apart, as if measuring them.

"They must have been made outta titanium! I'm serious!" He went on with his tale, much to the laughter of Rouge and Amy. The women calmed their laughter, and Rouge shook her head.

"They were about the size of, maybe, half a match."

"Well, they sure as hell hurt more than half a match."

"You're such a whiner, no body else was complaining."

"No body else got injured! You and Amy just went swimming, while us men worked hard on this!"

"Injured!? That's an injury?! Should we take you to the hospital if you get a paper cut?"

"…" Knuckles' response was loathing silence.

"Aww…poor baby. Rouge mockingly cooed. Knuckles kept up his silent defense.

"Oh, Knuckles, we're joking, you're just too easy to tease!" Rouge grinned. Knuckles still stayed silent,

"Just like old times," Tails laughed, "Why didn't Sonic come? It seems like he always skips out of the holidays."

The room was silent. Rouge and Knuckles cast a questioning glance at Amy. In turn, the fox did also. _I…I…_

_I remember this. _

/Where's Sonic?/

I was sitting…just like now…

/White rooms, white walls, an echoed scream inside my head/

Where was I?

/The sky is wet …/

Someone was crying

/A horrible wail… like a dying creature…/

It scared me…something was in pain …

/Why? WHY!?/

I…remember now… It was me…I was the one who was crying…

The fox's sapphire eyes widened, something was missing. Something in his mind was gone. A blank spot registered where a memory should have been. More frantically, the fox ran through the scenes in his head. It was something important to him, something he did not want to forget, but he did. He was not supposed to forget. The others knew it, but how? Were they there? Did they hear his cries too? Panicked blue eyes looked to the others for help. _Why won't they tell me?_ He stared at Knuckles' remaining Amethyst eye.

_I was there, wasn't I? When you were hurt… You were there when I was hurt. You wouldn't lie to me…would you, Knuckles?_

Knuckles averted his gaze from Tails' pleading look. _He should know…he was there. Nobody could forget something like that, could they? The _way_ he yelled…_The echidna lowered his head. _He wants to remember…maybe it wasn't him who forgot…maybe the medication really did this to him._

The echidna rose out of his seat and grabbed his black coat. "I'll take you to see, Sonic, Tails… I'll take you." He stared at the door, he couldn't look back to see their faces, _Amy, Rouge, I'm sorry. _Knuckles opened the door and the younger fox followed him.

_No, you wouldn't lie to me Knuckles…no matter how hard it is to tell the truth…_

x.x.x.x.x.x.

Mud stuck to the bottom of Knuckles' boots as he trudged over the semi-wet ground. Tails trailed behind him. The strange sloshing noises created by their walking provided the only conversation between them. Knuckles easily opened the large metal gate that stood before him. A raven turned towards the intruders and crowed from his nest. The younger fox stalked forward uneasily, while the echidna continued without thought. Giant willows reached towards the gray sky, as their long green branches shadowed the two's path. White marble crosses and rounded stones shot forth from the earth, creating a harsh contrast of stability. Knuckles continued onward, ignoring the unnerving sight that the bleak cemetery offered its guests.

He hadn't been here in five years, but he knew exactly where he was going. _I never thought I would come here again. After all these years, nothing has really changed at all. Everyone is still the same…even me. _Knuckles stopped suddenly, _Here it is. _Tails walked up to the tombstone Knuckles had stopped at.

"Hello Sonic." The fox bent down and brushed his hands lightly over the engraved words. His sapphire eyes read the inscriptions with a bitter smile. _So, this is what I wanted to remember…_

The echidna gritted his teeth, this place wasn't right. It wasn't right for him to be here. Nobody should have been here. It was an accident, accidents weren't supposed to destroy lives. There had to be something they could have done. Anything would have been better than nothing, but he didn't blame her, hindsight's always 20/20.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

"He doesn't remember." Amy spoke quietly, her hands tightened on the arm of the sofa. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by Rouge.

"Elli, babe, do you want to go take a nap?" Rouge led Elli to a room and closed the door before returning to Amy.

"Does the medication do this to him?" The pink hedgehog nodded at her question.

"Once I came here, and he didn't know who I was." Amy's hold over her emotions was wavering.

"I was so afraid, I was afraid of losing him again." Small tears spilled onto her lap. Rouge left her seat to sit next to Amy.

"I was afraid he would get upset again, and I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"No, Amy, he would never yell at you again, he didn't know, he doesn't remember that." Rouge comforted.

"He should have yelled, he should have hit me. I deserved that. It was my fault. Everything that happened was my fault." More tears slipped down Amy's cheeks onto her lap.

"The doctors shouldn't have asked me! I didn't know! I didn't know what to do!" Her breathing became more erratic as she replayed that day in her mind.

/_It was a normal day, just a normal day before Christmas, everyone was happy. Nobody was nervous, because there wasn't anything to be nervous about. There was nothing to be worried about, Robotnik had died of natural causes a few months earlier, this would be their first real Christmas. City Hall had some kind of award for them, so naturally, they went to accept it. It was just some small token of gratitude the mayor was going to give them; it wasn't a big press deal or anything A fire had damaged City Hall, so repairs were still underway in parts of the building. But while they were there, part of the building collapsed, causing the rest to follow. They had all been there, except for Rouge, she had ran to the car to get something, she had watched the building cave in right in front of her_. _I…I was inside. I was about to be crushed by a pillar, when Sonic rescued me. He had saved me one last time. The column hit him instead of me. Knuckles had glass shards through his arm and in his left eye. Tails, was just laying there like he was dead. Everyone was bleeding…Sonic… was bleeding too much…way too much. I wasn't crying, I was too terrified. I knew he was dead…but I was too scared to admit it._

_Rouge rode in the ambulance with us to the hospital, she was crying so hard. She was scared too; she was scared everyone was going to die. I can still see Sonic crushed, all the blood. Tails had fractured his skull; they asked me if they could perform the operation to remove the damaged part of his brain. They said he might not remember everything, but I didn't know, so I said yes. I thought it would save him, that he'd be fine afterwards. I thought he would always be the same old Tails. They shouldn't have asked me, they should have asked Rouge, but she was hysterical, she couldn't stop crying, I was calm. I was quiet, I only scraped my leg. They went through with the surgery and gave Tails a lot of morphine, it was a while before I could go see him. The doctors said I shouldn't talk to him until he fully recovered, but I didn't listen. _

_The room was eerie, all white, no windows. Tails was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling. I walked in and started talking to him, but he didn't respond. He didn't even know who I was. Then I realized, he was restrained to the bed. He turned towards me and started kicking and yelling. When he couldn't get loose, he started screaming profanities at me. I was shocked; I'd never heard such awful things before. Tails would never say that, to anyone. I started crying, and I couldn't stop. That just fueled his anger, his words became more spiteful and his accusations hit home. He blamed me for his condition, and you know what? He was right, it was my fault. _

_A nurse came in hastily and put something in his IV to calm him down. A few minutes later, he was asleep on the bed. I was still crying in the corner, the nurse should have given me some of that too. But instead she tried to make me feel better. She said he didn't know what he was saying, the surgery went fine, but he probably doesn't remember the accident at all, he was just upset because he was disoriented. She was either lying, or misinformed. Tails knew exactly what he was saying; he meant every word of it. He just didn't have his mind to restrain himself. _

_The doctors put him on medication; but the pills didn't work. Sure he remembered some things, but most of his memories were gone. Tails never came back from the hospital; instead, I had a shell that looked like Tails. It looked a lot like Tails, but it was empty inside, he was truly gone. He was gone…like Sonic./_

"It was my fault… I killed Tails."

"No, Amy! You did the best you could, none of us could have made that decision, we didn't know what to expect!" Rouge was crying too, but her voice was strong and unwavering.

"Yes Rouge, we were warned, but no warning could have prepared us for that. You were a few rooms down; you could hear Tails too, couldn't you?" Amy looked over at Rouge's pained face and then at her skirt.

"I'll never forget, the one thing he said before the nurse came in. He said, 'You selfish pathetic, little wench, you're crying because you got your little feelings hurt? How can you be crying for yourself!? Look what you did, YOU KILLED SONIC! You're so stupid, if you weren't here, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!'" Amy trembled as she spoke. For five years, those words had haunted her. Did Tails know the effect they still had on her? He never talked about the hospital with her, maybe he didn't remember that, or didn't want to.

Rouge wiped her eyes, "You did not kill anybody, I know that and you know that. It was the drugs they gave him that made him say that."

"But, he was right, I might not have physically killed him, but it was me that Sonic died trying to save, but why? I've never done anything as great as him, he had everything to live for and he threw it all away."

Rouge grabbed Amy's shoulders roughly and looked her square in the eyes. "Now you listen to me, Amy Rose. I don't EVER want to hear you say that again, do you hear me? Sonic was a better person than any of us could ever hope to be. Sonic didn't take things for granted. He lived to help everyone who needed him. He never was confused which was right or wrong, he knew in his heart every decision he made was for good. He knew that day what he was doing when he saved you, Amy. He made that decision; he NEVER threw his life away. Sonic DID NOT die for nothing." Rouge's voiced had lowered to a whisper, but her voice shook with anger. She released Amy's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"I-I'm sorry." Amy hugged Rouge tightly and cried into her shirt.

"I'm sorry, too Amy. I… I just wanted you to know, it wasn't a mistake because he saved you."

Amy nodded as best she could. Five years of tension and remorse was let of her shoulders. She would always feel responsible for Tails and Sonic, but somehow she felt a little relieved. After the accident, she hadn't talked to anyone, she was afraid of Tails' reaction if she brought it up. The two leaned back and wiped off the mascara under their eyes. Rouge stood up and held out her hand.

"Now, what do you say we go make some Christmas cookies?" She asked.

"Can we?" Amy laughed and accepted her hand.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

"Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas Eve!" Elli cheered in a singsong voice.

Knuckles rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. "6:21, yep, it's Christmas Eve alright." He tiredly informed Rouge.

"No, sweetie, the clocks wrong, Christmas Eve isn't until noon. Go back to sleep." Rouge mumbled.

"That's not fair! Miss Amy said that the day begins at midnight and it's way past midnight!" Elli started jumping on the bed.

"Amy, I'm going to kill you." Knuckles pulled his pillow over his head in attempts to block Elli's chanting of 'Christmas Eve!'. Elli suddenly stopped jumping, "I'm hungry!" she announced.

"She's your daughter, Knuckles, go get her something to eat." Rouge poked his side.

"No, I'm asleep, you get her something to eat." He rolled over.

"I got up last time to feed her."

"Nope, floor's too cold."

"It is, huh?" Rouge pulled the covers off Knuckles. The echidna's eyes jammed open at the sudden drop in temperature.

"Ahhh! God, it's freezing in here!" Knuckles stood up and wrapped a small blanket around his arms.

"You're up! You're up! Please, can we now go get something to eat!" Elli begged, tugging at Knuckles' blanket.

"Rouge! I'm not doing this anymore! She's too old to be waking me up so early!" Knuckles grabbed the sheets from Rouge's hands and ripped them off. "Get up, if I have to wake up, so do you."

Mustering the most angry glare at him as she could, she left the warm bed and put on her robe. Elli led them to the kitchen, where Amy was making coffee and turning pancakes.

"So you stayed here tonight too?" Knuckles' tiredly asked.

"Yeah, it was so late, I thought it would be better just to stay here until the holiday's over." Amy turned another pancake.

Elli's eyes grew huge. "Ooooh! It's blueberry!" She squealed, "Blueberry's my favorite!"

Amy put one on a plate for her. "There's some syrup on the table."

"Thank you!" Elli smiled and quickly flooded her pancakes in syrup.

"Do you actually get up this early?" Rouge yawned.

"Yes, I'm a morning person. Tails should be up soon too."

"Wow." Rouge accepted a plate from Amy and sat next to Elli. Amy made a few more pancakes for herself and Knuckles before sitting down. They finished the pancakes and thanked Amy graciously for her and Tails' hospitality.

"So are you leaving after tomorrow?" Amy sipped at her coffee.

"Yeah, but hopefully, it won't be so long until we see you all next." Rouge answered.

"Things have been… interesting, but I'm really glad everyone could make it, Tails enjoys your company a lot. Knuckles, thank you…for yesterday. I think it helped Tails to go visit Sonic. " Amy finished her coffee and pancakes.

"Well, I'll go see if he's up now."

"I saw Mister Tails go outside." Elli said in-between bites of her pancakes.

"You did? Well, I'll go and get him, it's too cold to be out long." Amy grabbed her jacket and quickly left the house.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

Tails sat with his legs hanging over the edge of the cliff overlooking the vast ocean by his house. _The ocean's always been beautiful; I should have come out here more often._

"Tails? Are you okay?" Amy's worried voice asked behind him.

"Yeah, just watching the ocean, it's great isn't it?"

"Yeah… it is, but… aren't you cold?"

The fox looked at the loose windbreaker he was wearing. It was hardly enough to keep out the cold, but the ocean breeze felt exhilarating.

"I'm fine, why don't you come and sit?"

Amy wrinkled her forehead in confusion, but sat down gingerly next to Tails.

"I don't think I'm going to stay for Christmas this year."

"What? Why Tails?"

Tails continued, disregarding Amy's question. "Do you remember that one spring when we went to Station Square a few years ago? To go to the beach?"

Amy nodded and smiled at the memory. "Yes, I do. It was really windy that day so I suggested we make kites."

Tails laughed, "You tried to make a kite out of palm leaves and some twine. Boy, that was the worst kite I've ever seen."

Amy threw her head back and laughed, "As I recall, you didn't do much better with your Hawaiian-shirt kite."

Now it was Tails' turn to laugh, "I stand corrected, that was the worst kite I've ever seen."

"After we flew the kites, we sat on the beach all day and made shapes out of the clouds, do you remember that?" Tails turned towards Amy. She nodded and waited for him to pick up again.

"Then, after we spent the whole day just laughing and messing around, you kissed me and said, 'Thank you Tails, this is the happiest day I've had in a long time.' That was the happiest day I ever had, Amy. Because I was with you, and you were happy. And I think…I think, I might have been… in love with you.

"I'm sorry; I yelled at you in the hospital, I'll never forgive myself for that. I didn't mean what I said, I can barely remember it, but I know it hurt you, and that's the last thing I'd ever want to do. I'm sorry for a lot of things Amy, I've taken up five years of your life for you to watch me. I'm sorry that I've caused you grief, and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I can't remember who I used to be. People I've known all my life are new acquaintances. My life seems like a dream I made up, and all the pieces of who I used to be don't fit. But I do remember one thing… I remember you Amy, you were always there for me, but I haven't been here for you..." Tails leaned over and kissed Amy softly, and embraced her for a moment. Amy hugged him back; unsure of why he had told her that.

"I don't think I'm going to stay for Christmas this year…" Tails released her and looked sorrowfully at her face. He turned towards the ocean, and with a small push from his hands, he leapt over the edge of the cliff into the crystalline blue waters.

Amy's scream stuck in her throat. _No! NO TAILS!_ Her hand reached out towards where Tails' had previously sat. Rouge poked her head out the door of Tails' house.

"Amy, did you find Tails?" She called. Amy didn't answer. Rouge jogged over to her and bent down.

"Amy, where's Tails?"

Amy pointed a shaky hand towards the ocean as a tear slipped down her face. Rouge stared, horrified, at the deceptively calm waters below.

"No…No, Amy…" Rouge covered her mouth with her hands. _No, Tails wouldn't…_

The bat watched with an unspoken question at her lips as the pink hedgehog started laughing. Amy brushed the tears off her face and smiled bitterly, "You want to know something funny, Rouge? I think I might have been in love with him."

END 

Well, hopefully that wasn't too long for you, as of now, it's the longest fic I've ever written! - (I have an extremely short attention span) I've always wanted to make a fic centered around an older, more mature, Amy, and I sort of did. I also had the urge to write something in the Angst/Drama genre again. So I hoped you liked it!

I was originally planning for this fic to be about six pages or so, but once I started writing, I couldn't stop. I'm sorry Sonic-fans, in all of my fics I either kill him or make him a minor character. I'll try not to do that anymore, and I promise I'll write a nice SonAmy story for those of you who like that pairing. (or maybe a nice love triangle) Well, I think this author's note is long enough.

Please review! I'd really appreciate it

Merry Christmas, (I know it's August, but the holiday spirit doesn't have a calendar.)

Reiya


End file.
